Brim006

Judging by youth numbers , it looks like Bismarck will be in a similar boat to today for at least another 3-4 years before there is some potential for major improvements. Bantams have 6 teams which will get bottlenecked into 3 varsity teams, but assuming the natural loss of a chunk of those kids they will probably field pretty similar to current between varsity and JV numbers. Peewees are sitting at 7 teams with full rosters, which will naturally tapper down to pretty similar to today as well. Consistent and steady but no real signs of vast improvement numbers wise. But man oh man, Squirts have 22 teams...Granted they are smaller teams, but still well over double of Peewees numbers. Roughly 275 skaters. There will likely be a pretty large drop off of kids that young all the way to high school but even if they lose half, they'll have about double of current Peewees and Bantams. That's still a long way down the road, but it's at least a good sign of the youth hockey growth with the additional sheet of ice and additional varsity team not bottlenecking numbers as bad anymore.

Well that isn't a very good comparison, because that would assume there were the same amount of people in Bismarck in 1990 as there are today, but now having to split that population of kids into 3 varsity teams instead of just 2 back then. But in reality, the Bismarck MSA population has grown by 50,000 people in that span, and only added 1 varsity program. So technically there's actually far more people and far more kids per varsity team today with 3, than there was per varsity team in 1990 even with only 2. I think the overall popularity of hockey booming has just made it so much harder for kids to get to the D1 level. In fact, just since 2000 the USA hockey numbers have grown by nearly 250%, yet the number of D1 hockey teams has only grown by a handful. That has drastically reduced the chances for kids to make it to that level today versus 25-35 years ago. Yet, we still see 2-3 ex WDA players playing D1 level hockey each season, which shows despite the massive increase of competition and reduced chances, Bismarck and ND hockey in general has still kept pretty good pace on producing those level of players, but just not as likely to have 3 on the same line and 4-5 on the ice at the same time anymore. It's just the reality of the sheer numbers of hockey players today versus early 90s.

Because of the trend of kids leaving early?

crap...those suck. SOO easy to re-tweak. They commonly nag for many many months.

Mattern is currently sitting at 71 points in 19 games, with 2 reg season games left to go. At his current pace (3.74 pts per game) he will end the regular season with around 78+. He's guaranteed 2 games at EDC, likely 3, so assuming 3 games...that puts him around 90 points. If WF makes state and plays all 3 games, then he'd roughly finish with around 101 points which would beat the all-time record...and doing it in the EDC versus WDA to boot. Lots of ifs there, but technically he has a chance. 1. Needs to continue his pace every game 2. They need to make state, and win at least 1 of their first 2 games at state to ensure playing 3 games If WF makes state, I think that alone makes the trip to watch state worthwhile.

No clue on the all-time EDC record. The online stats only go back to 2004. But I believe the 99 point season by Peluso in his Jr season still stands as the most in a season in the state history, granted that was WDA and I'm just speaking EDC here for the Mattern stats. Historically the rough rule of thumb has been a 25% points adder for playing in the west. For instance, that historic season of Peluso getting 99 points would have been more like 74 points had he played it in the East.

I know DL does some goalie specialized training sessions for all ages , but there must be a lot more of it than I realize. It seems like the boys have an all-state goalie every 2-3 years and have the top goalie in the state every 5-6.

Looks like Mattern is well on his way to shatter the highest goal total in the EDC in the past 20 years (45) and the total points in the EDC in the past 20 years (85).

Yes, it's absolutely fair and is the best way. The beginning of the season is a part of the season. If we start excluding early season scores, then what's the point of playing a full season? Should we just do exhibition games through Mid-January and then start the real games from there? Should we cherry pick who's playing well in Feb and ignore who played better through the previous 4 months? You're essentially asking if politics should be infused to determine playoff spots.... Pariwise adds to the importance and intensity of non-con games whether early or late, because everyone is aware of the implications. Every team deals with adversity throughout the season, and the ones who are able to still win more consistently than others through it all are rewarded with playoff spots. The only argument I can see for committee votes and rankings is to stir up the drama on TV to get more people talking about hockey and creating more publicity. But if that's what has to be done to get more people interested than I dont want to be interested.

yeah wasnt correcting you, just was adding the info of which games those were.

I also nominate Flinn Lockwood from GFC. Remarkably similar to 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' movie star Flint Lockwood. flint.jfif

Who's got the best name in all of NDHSH this season? I nominate Thomas Thompson from GPR. Tom Thomp

True yes, the backup played vs Minot and J town. But not Bott or Mandan. Either way, it shows anything is possible when a top tier goalie is in net. He'll give them opportunity to steal more games, and since they have a handful of kids who can bury the puck this year, it makes them a dangerous team despite being 5-11.

With Minot being Minot, I actually think this loss ticks their odds up a few notches for success at state now. Undefeated burden is off their minds, and likely are more motivated and angry.

what the heck... Not as big of an upset but ending Minot's undefeated season would be wild too. All in the same night

Yet lost to Mandan, Bott, and Jamestown

Total Penalties on the night = DL 4 GFC 5

GFhockey was just mocking me like 4 days ago for saying the EDC #1 and #2 could lose to #7 or #8 any given night this season lol. #1 falls to #8 tonight. Looks like that bumps DL into 7th now though. They still play FSS twice so they will end 7-8 depending on how that goes.

Looks like DL had all 4 penalties in the 2nd and GFC has had 5 already in the 3rd. Wild

Holy crap DL scored! 2-1 with like 5 mins left.

DL journal sports writer does live updates on twitter.

1-1 halfway through the 3rd. DL with another powerplay. This might be their last chance to score again.

DL failed to score on the PP after doubling their shot total. GFC finally scores shortly after getting back to full strength.

I know Devils Lake has a webcam above the radio booth so probably somewhere online. I found it for a few games last season but ill have to find it again

No matter the outcome of this game, it just goes to show how wild the EDC tournament is going to be this year.